Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 26 Nosler with 160 Matrix

Has anybody ran a 160 thru a Nosler yet? What velocities are you getting? We are thinking 3250 would make a great combo...not sure if it's possible tho. Might have to go with a 6.5/338 RUM Improved instead...

With the 129 running at 3,350 or so with the best accuracy loads, 3,400 max, I don't see how one could get 3,250 or even close with a 160.

Check on line for Nosler's load data for the 26. Ramshot Magnum was the most accurate powder and 80 gr. the most accurate 129 load.

DF

I see slowing it down as a good thing in a number of ways and the BC on that 160 will more than make up for the speed loss as it gets out there at longer ranges. A .685 BC (vs. the .561 in the ABLR) is nothing to sneeze at.

How fast do you guestimate the 26 will push a 160?

DF

Did some checking at Load Data.

The fastest 160 gr. velocities for the .264 WM are as follow:

68 gr. H-570 at 2,960 fps.
74 gr. H-870 at 2,947 fps.

So, it would seem the 26 Nosler could push a 160 gr. bullet over 3,000 fps.

DF

This is a 6.5 Badger. I had the reamer done up awhile back and it is currently being tested in a 30" McGowen barrel. A new 8 twist 6.5x47 Lapua barrel rechambered. Minimum body taper, 40 degree shoulder, with what I thought was the proper amount of free bore.

It's currently launching the 160gr Matrix at 3450 with US869 powder. The 6.5 Badger will only need 33.15 MOA to reach 1500 yards from a 100 yard zero.

Here's a link to a post by the gentlemen that has began testing the cartridge.

6.5 Badger testing.

Fire formed 6.5 Badger (Left) and the parent case .338 Ultra (Right).



The COAL with a 160gr Matrix fits a standard ultra mag Rem700 mag box.

Cartridge pictured in a Rem700 factory ultra mag box. A extended Wyatt's next to it for comparison.

Like throwin' a Cummin's in a quad... holy smoke...

W

Blackhole Weaponry is spinning me up a 26", 8 twist 3P polygonal barrel right now. I'll send them the reamer by the end of the week. I'm going to see if I can get the same velocity as the 30" McGowen out of the Blacjhole 26" Polygonal. Seeing in my experience the poly is faster than the conventional in most cases.

adam32,

I've been handloading and shooting the 26 Nosler for t past couple of weeks, from a Nosler rifle. Tried the 156 Norma Oryx yesterday, which isn't a very long-range bullet but was the only heavyweight 6.5mm I had on hand. Anything over 3000 fps was too much, even with US869.

The 160 Matrix might develop a little less pressure than the Oryx, but it won't get anywhere near 3250.

Buddy of mine is running the 129 gr Accubond in the new Nosler 26 he had built. I'm pretty sure he is running 81 grains of Retumbo. He said his clocked at just a tad over 3400 fps on his chronograph. He said he hasn't had time to load any H-1000 yet, but the accuracy was less than a half inch at 100 yards and 5 inches at a 1000 yards with Retumbo on a calm day.

I'm waiting to see how his works out, before I build one. Dang that Nosler brass he bought is HIGH !

Yeah, the brass is pricey--but also really good. The stuff I have is extremely consistent in every way, neck thickness, weight, etc.

Does it seem soft to you, John? The Nosler 300 ultra brass I have tried was pretty soft and had less capacity than Remington.

I bet if you gave the Matrix folks a call, they'd send you a some 160's to try.

If one can squeeze mid 2,900's out of a .264 WM with 160's, the 26 should run a solid 3K or better. That would be a cool LR load, one would think...

No pressure...!!

Just a subtle hint...

DF

BWalker,

No, it's not particularly soft. I have had ejector-hole marks show up on a few cases, but only when I tried to push things--as, for instance, with a charge of 82.0 grains of Ramshot Magnum with the 130-grain AccuBond.

This is the max Nosler lists with the 129 ABLR, and gets right around the 3400 fps in Nosler's data, but apparently the 130 AB produces higher pressures. The velocity was around 3475, and all the cases firedshowed a very faint ejector-hole mark. My bet is dropped the charge back a grain or two will work fine.

Dirtfarmer,

I ran the numbers for the 129 ABLR versus the 160 Matrix, using Bryan Litz's ballistic program. The 129 was given an MV of 3400 and the 160 an MV of 3000.

Aside from accuracy, the major factor for LR hunting is wind-drift, since it's the most unpredictable factor. Out to 800 yards wind-drift was virtually identical with the two loads, and even at 1000 the difference was only around 4 inches. Time-of-flight is also shorter for the 129 out to at least 800 yards, which gives game less time to move before the bullet gets there.

Not all that many years ago, hunters who wanted an open-country loads were mostly fixated on muzzle velocity. Now they seem to be fixated on the highest-BC bullet possible, when it may not really gain much. Muzzle velocity still counts for something, and a heavier, higher-BC bullet's advantages may not show up until 1000 yards or more.

I know some hunters regularly kill all sorts of stuff at 1000+, but most don't.

I'm not a 1,000 yd. hunter, 4-500 yds. is a long shot for me.

It seems that Nosler built the 26 around their 129 ABLR bullet, and that may be the optimal projectile for this round.

Seeing how the 129 ABLR stacks up against heavier bullets is an interesting study in ballistics. I look forward to reading your report. I think there are a bunch of donor actions sitting around waiting for info and data to evolve. Until one gets into the long bullets, a std. mag. action should be fine. I'm interested in how a std. box mag. can be tweaked to get three rounds down. The rest should be a straight forward barrel swap.

DF

Actually, quite a few people are starting to believe bullets of around 130 grains are optimum for longer-range hunting with 6.5's of any size. Wind-drift isn't any different than with a 140+ of the same profile, and trajectory is flatter. The trajectory factor isn't as important as it used to be, but with ballistic reticles it definitely helps, and even fewer clicks aren't a bad thing, especially in scopes of limited adjustment range.

Mule Deer, what has been your impression so far? I'm curious how the nosler 26 handles, and if you think it will do significant meat damage due to high velocities.

I've battled with the BC vr. muzzle velocity issue for a bit. Finally decided that BC wins even at ranges less than 1000.

I've proved it to myself as well

When we look at ballistics charts comparing wind drift, we are assuming the wind is a constant Xmph, when in reality, its velocity is not constant and neither is its direction.

I believe we need to look at BC as the ability not only to resist wind, but changes including velocity and direction of the wind as well.

Long and short of it is that the .300 Winchester Magnum/230 Berger OTM combination has been pretty successful of late against every other combination purposely built to win Long Range matches.